Oilers crying poor?

There's a great discussion over on Tom Benjamin's blog where various parties are debating the status of the Edmonton Oilers. Even a few blogging bigwigs like venerable Post columnist Colby Cosh are weighing in on the debate — aligned against me I might add — so it should make for an interesting read. Anyone want to help me out?

Are the Oilers one of the league's most troubled franchises? No, there are many other teams in worse condition. That said, it's awfully hard to keep icing a competitive squad with a $30-mil payroll year after year when you're up against $70-mil behemoths who gladly eat up your free agents. Sure Edmonton has made poor managerial decisions in the past, but the worst ones? I'd agree they've been mediocre.

As for the drafting discussion that's going on over there, I really need to dig out my old THN notes and post the drafting records of every team. Perhaps I can even rank them... let's make that a project for the post-Post days.